Vegas ice rink with Colorado connection keeping hockey fever alive in the desert

LAS VEGAS Hockey fever is taking over the desert, with all eyes on the Colorado Avalanche against the Vegas Golden Knights. The passion for the game has spread throughout the community, with local rinks experiencing a surge of enthusiasm.

The Las Vegas Ice Center offers opportunities for kids and adults to play hockey, along with a skating treadmill and public skating opportunities. It is also attached to Brooksy's Bar and Grill. The front-of-house manager, John Brooks, explained how his family came to run the building.

"In about 2004, all the hockey rings in Las Vegas were going out of business," said Brooks. "My brother Kurt took over the lease here, and we leased the place for seven years, and then at the end of that, we bought the whole building, took over the whole thing, including the restaurant."

Looking around the restaurant, there is plenty of hockey memorabilia honoring both the Knights and the Avalanche. Brooks explained he was born and raised in Denver, remembering the days when the Avalanche first came to town.

"We all went to Denver South High School. We lived six blocks from DU as we were growing up, and we were huge hockey fans there," Brooks said.

Now helping run this business in the desert, Brooks has seen firsthand the surge in hockey since the Knights have come to town, even seeing similarities to when the Avalanche came to the Mile High.

"I will say having professional hockey here has exploded it," said Brooks. "I know that's true for Colorado too, because when I grew up in Denver, there weren't kids playing hockey in Denver, and now there's a lot of great hockey in Colorado on the youth level, and that's really cool to see."

While youth programming is heating up, so is the adult league. Brad Sholl, director of operations at Las Vegas Ice Center, explained that everyone just wants to be playing on the ice.

"The game has just grown so much like our facility here, we're pretty much maximized with our youth leagues and our travel club and our adult league," explained Sholl. "We're at the point now where we're starting to have men's league games, like starting at 10:30, 11:00 at night, just to be able to satisfy the need."

In a city frequently hitting triple digits, the ice not only helps people beat the heat but also shapes the next generation of talent.

Watch Maggy Wolanske's report in the player below: Vegas ice rink with a Colorado connection that is keeping the hockey fever alive in the desert

"Well, I mean, hockey is alive and well here in Vegas. We've actually seen a lot of kids from the Vegas area that have developed enough and have made it on to prep schools and junior hockey, which people probably never thought would happen," Sholl said.

On the ice, Todd Mascitelli is known as 'Slapatelli' because 'he slaps that puck.' His parents and friends cheered him on as he played in the adult league. Mascitelli started playing in fifth grade when there was one ice rink in the city.

"Everybody wants to play hockey now, everybody, kids, it's great. Even high schools have teams now. I wish we had a team when I was growing up," Mascitelli said.

Being on the ice is nothing new to Mascitelli; he knows how popular hockey has become throughout the community.

"Of course, there are so many people who want to play that can't even play," said Mascitelli. "There's not enough ice for people to play out here. So there's a long waiting list of guys that are trying to play all the time."

While ice may be an oasis in Vegas, the hockey community knows this is just the beginning. Luckily, they have this local rink as an outlet.

"We're the family-owned and operated facility in Vegas for over 20 years, and it's going to stay that way," Brooks said.